Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) says he does not plan to run for governor of the state.
In a video posted on Twitter on Tuesday, de Blasio touted his tenure as mayor, “We said we were going to take on inequality… Naysayers said it couldn’t be done. But we proved, together, we can make a big change.”
“Now, I made my fair share of mistakes. I was not good with groundhogs at all,” he continued as he referenced a 2014 incident when he dropped a groundhog on Groundhog Day.
The groundhog died a week later due to “internal injuries.”
De Blasio continued, “[I] probably shouldn’t have gone to the gym.”
Watch the video below:
I am not going to be running for Governor of New York State, but I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fighting inequality in the state of New York. pic.twitter.com/cBZ03BpO0s
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) January 18, 2022
In 2020, he was criticized for going to a gym after the New York City government urged residents to stay home except for “essential tasks” such as grocery shopping or seeking medical care in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His trip to the gym also came shortly before the state required non-essential businesses, such as gyms, to close.
After listing a series of accomplishments from his time as mayor, de Blasio said, “We proved once and for all you can fight inequality. You can turn it around.”
“So this is the right place for me to share some news with you. No, I am not going to be running for governor of New York State,” he said, adding, “But I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York. We got a lot to do. Together.”
According to The New York Times, de Blasio “had signaled for months that he was planning a campaign, saying repeatedly that he did not feel ready to leave public service.”
A poll released by the Sienna Research Institute on Tuesday found that de Blasio would have faced long odds to win his party’s nomination for governor.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) received 46% support while de Blasio received 12%.